Oxford Church of the Nazarene gathers at 116 E. Locust St. in Oxford, Pennsylvania. It is known for its welcoming assurance that no one enters the doors by accident, its Sunday 10:00 a.m. worship gathering offered both in person and online, and an emphasis on becoming church family through worship, friendships, small groups and discipleship.
A Place to Belong on Locust Street
OCN's welcome rests on two convictions: God has a plan for every person, and this church can become a home while its people become family. Everyone is welcome to join at any time. The church connects that welcome to five practical purposes.
- Worship that honors and glorifies God
- Relationships developed through friendships and small groups
- A learning community that invites people to make disciples of Jesus Christ
- Ministry that prepares people to serve God
- Sharing the story of Jesus Christ with all people
Together, those purposes describe a church that seeks to honor God in worship, form friendships, help people become disciples, equip people for service and continue the story of Jesus beyond the church. The welcome ends with the simple blessing, God Bless You.
Sunday Worship at 10:00, In Person and Online
Every Sunday, OCN holds a Worship Service at 10:00 a.m. at 116 E. Locust St., Oxford, PA 19363. The service is explicitly offered both in person and through the church's livestream. Visitors can join at Locust Street or participate online.
A sermon collection extends that worship rhythm beyond the gathering itself. It includes audio messages and entries with video or readable text. Subjects include the attributes of God, holiness, redemption, the Holy Spirit, wise conduct, the life and mission of Jesus, and the way beliefs shape behavior. The collection includes messages attributed to Larry Powell, Brian Doherty, Bud Reedy and Maris Hufnal.
A second Sunday gathering is the Prayer Service, held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Together, the morning worship and evening prayer give the church's regular Sunday rhythm two distinct forms.
Life Groups and Prayer Through the Week
OCN lists Life Groups throughout the week. The church's description of small groups is relational first: friendships are developed through gatherings, and the learning community invites people to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Life Groups therefore provide the setting for the church's stated emphasis on learning, relationships and serving.
Bible study is also visible in the church's teaching life through Bible-study messages in the sermon collection. This fits OCN's two connected commitments: people are invited to grow in understanding, and they are prepared to put faith into practice through ministry. Life Groups provide a regular place for that combination of learning, fellowship and service.
The Connections portion of the church's ministry is especially important for people arriving through a family. Heather Roberts leads children's ministry, while Life Groups and worship gathering give families ways to connect with people beyond their own homes.
Heather Roberts and the Children's Connections Ministry
Rev. Heather G. Roberts serves as Children's and Connections Pastor. She studied Christian Education with an emphasis on children's ministry at MidAmerica Nazarene University and completed her ministry practicum at College Church of the Nazarene in Olathe, Kansas. She was ordained an Elder in the Church of the Nazarene on the South Texas district in 2015.
Her ministry is centered on children and their families. Roberts is passionate about sharing faith with them, looking for ways to disciple and train children as leaders, and helping young people grow in faith. Matthew 5:16 is a defining verse for her work: In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Her focus connects the church's learning purpose with its call to prepare people for service.
OCN also gives children and young people a place in the wider life of the church. Its family-oriented rhythm is visible in the ministry for children, the Life Groups throughout the week, and the church's commitment to help young people see their own capacity for leadership.
Larry and Kerry Powell: Ministry and Worship
Larry Powell: From Geology to Ministry
Lead Pastor Larry D. Powell's ministry reaches back to his youth in Oxford, Michigan. He grew up in a family of seven, and his father and grandfather were carpenters who built houses during many summer months. After high school, Powell joined the Army. At Olivet Nazarene University he planned to teach physical science, but a call to ministry during his junior year changed that plan. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in geology and later completed ministry studies at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City. Larry and Kerry's first church after seminary in 1998 was Oxford Church of the Nazarene.
Powell explains that God radically changed his life, which became the reason he wanted to spend the rest of his life telling people that God is real and able to change lives for good in ways that are unimaginable. He seeks to communicate God's word in ways that are easy to understand, and he often uses a funny story to make room for that teaching. Ephesians 2:10 is one of his favorite passages, with its emphasis on being created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared in advance.
Kerry Powell: Worship Built Around Music
Rev. Kerry Jo Powell is Worship Pastor. Kerry grew up in Pekin, Illinois, in a musical family; her parents were song evangelists, she began singing publicly at age two, and she started playing violin at five. She earned an elementary education degree at Olivet Nazarene University and was ordained an Elder in the Church of the Nazarene in April 2021.
Her work centers on worship and pointing people to Jesus. Kerry describes singing, especially harmony, as a gift from God and says her musical ability is meant to be given back to God. That conviction has guided a humble spirit. One passage she especially values is Exodus 14:14: The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.
Kim Ragan and the Work of Gathering People
Associate Pastor Kim Ragan serves in Spiritual Formation. Ragan grew up in West Virginia and describes herself as a long-time northerner. Her stated passion is helping people see themselves through the eyes of a loving God and encouraging a deep, meaningful relationship with Jesus.
Her work is naturally relational and event-centered. Before entering full-time ministry, Ragan spent much of her career as an event planner, and she continues to create opportunities for people to gather, connect and build community. That assignment supports OCN's wider rhythm of worship, friendships, Life Groups, learning and service, giving those purposes a practical expression in the life of the congregation.
The pastoral team is also varied in background: Powell brings geology and a broad practical ministry history, Kerry Powell brings lifelong music and worship, Roberts brings Christian education, and Ragan brings spiritual formation and event planning. Their roles give the church's stated aims of worship, discipleship, connection and service distinct leaders.
Justification, Sanctification, and a Changed Life
OCN's stated teaching places the transformation of people at the center of the Christian life. In the church's description, justification means that God blots out sin and makes a person new. The work of the Holy Spirit includes regeneration and adoption into God's family. Sanctification is described as renewing the heart in God's image and pursuing personal purity and power.
The church is careful that sanctification does not have one-size-fits-all formula. With God's help, people are called toward personal purity and toward love and cherishing God, themselves and others rather than using them for personal gain. Following the path of Christ is presented as the way toward true fulfillment in a society marked by depression, suicide and emptiness.
These themes appear across the church's sermon subjects, including holiness, redemption, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the life worth living with a Lord worth following, and behavior that reflects belief. The recurring emphasis is not only what God has done but how a changed life is lived in relationship with God and other people.
That understanding shapes the church's purposes. Worship honors God; discipleship forms disciples; ministry prepares people to serve; friendships and small groups create relationships; and sharing the story of Jesus Christ extends that mission to all people. Larry Powell's favored passage about being created for good works gives a practical expression to the same message.
Community Organizations Connected to Oxford
OCN calls community very important and highlights three Oxford organizations as local resources: Lighthouse Youth Center, Neighborhood Services Center and Good Neighbors Home Repair. The church says the Oxford community has many organizations that provide a variety of services, and it places links to these three among them.
The emphasis fits the congregation's understanding of ministry as service rather than an activity confined to church gatherings. It also connects the church's welcome and family language to the wider town: Oxford Church of the Nazarene points people toward practical community organizations while remaining a Church of the Nazarene congregation centered on worship, discipleship and the story of Jesus.
That local orientation is reinforced by the church's stated mission of sharing the story of Jesus Christ with all people. For OCN, community connection and spiritual formation belong together: people are welcomed into relationships, prepared to serve and directed toward organizations that can address practical needs in Oxford.
Giving and Staying Connected to OCN
Online giving is available through OCN's giving service. The church states that all gifts to OCN are tax deductible and that a receipt is provided at the end of the tax year. Giving is presented simply as a way to support OCN.
The church also keeps sermons available for people who want to listen or read. OCN maintains a Facebook presence under OCNazarene and a YouTube channel called OCN on YouTube. People may also leave a message or sign up for the church's newsletter. For direct questions, the church lists ocnchurch@gmail.com and 610-932-2584.
OCN's identity is simple enough to gather in one sentence: no one enters these doors by accident because God has a plan. The church carries that conviction into its Sunday worship, prayer, Life Groups, children's connections, spiritual formation and service. At 116 E. Locust St. in Oxford, Oxford Church of the Nazarene continues to hold that promise of welcome while keeping Jesus Christ at the center of its worship, discipleship and community life.